Japanese Deaf Culture

Living in Japan for a year and a half, one will quickly begin to see the
differences and similarities of the East Asian culture to their own. The
same is true of the Deaf and their culture.

Japanese Sign Language culture and recognition of the Deaf community is
younger than that of America (Nakamura, 2007). In fact, through government
programs and recognition, Sign Language education is only just now beginning
to be encouraged, and through this, a nation-wide culture is finally being
allowed to coalesce (Nakamura, 2007). Something I have noticed in my own
time in Japan is the speed at which cultural differences are integrated into
the Japanese way of life. In other words, because of it’s homogeneous
history and isolated geography, the Japanese tend to shirk away from that
which is different. It is for this reason, I have been told, all Japanese
children must have black hair to be allowed into public schools. The same
isolationism is true for the recognition of the Deaf. “Japan is a late
developer of Deaf educational opportunities,” having only started compulsory
education following World War II (Monaghan, 2003). It is also for this
reason that the older Deaf generations are socially isolated than those of
the current generation, having had little education and socialization
previously (Monaghan, 2003). Moreover, Japanese Sign Language (from hereon
referred to as JSL) is not used in hearing Elementary Schools. “Signed
languages are ‘permitted’ to be used, but only in the middle and high school
levels and only as an aid to Japanese-language materials” (Monaghan, 2003).
Because of the close association with JPL in a Japanese Public School, JSL
follows Japanese language word order and grammatical forms more than ASL
(Monaghan, 2003).

Also with each country or group of people and it’s culture, there is a
difference between the young and the old. In Japan’s Deaf culture a few
years ago, following High School graduation, Deaf children would search out
a group of Deaf on their own. But now, with the pressure of going to a
top-tier High School (in Japan, High School and College’s importance is
reverse to that of America), Deaf schools are seen as non-Academic, and thus
entices the younger Deaf generation to go to a hearing institution. “...[K]ids
go to mainstream schools and might never meet a deaf person” (Monaghan,
2003). But perhaps most surprising of all is that some of Japan’s Deaf are
isolating themselves: “predominantly young people identify as hard of
hearing or hearing impaired...over ‘deaf’ and do not join deaf groups. Why
are younger deaf avoiding the traditional deaf organizations” (Monaghan,
2003)? The Tokyo Association of the Hearing Disabled, formerly known as the
Tokyo Association of the Deaf, changed it’s name solely to attract the youth
that did not refer to his or herself as Deaf (Monaghan, 2003). It is
important to note that not every Japanese youth has denounced, or failed to
identify, with Deaf. What is known as U-Turn Deaf, some are returning to
Deaf schools because it is where their friends are and ultimately how they
identify themselves (Monaghan, 2003). Or in the case of “Deaf Shock,” people
who never identified themselves as Deaf are connected with Deaf groups and
are harshly awakened to find a part of their identity they did not know they
had (Monaghan, 2003).

JSL may have sprouted a unique culture different from ASL, but in some ways
is very similar: “...[I]n [their] respective cultures, Deaf individuals tend
to be more direct than their hearing peers” (Mindess, 2007). However, the
differences are the most noticeable, both cross-culturally: With importance
on separating public and private spaces, the Japanese Deaf would likely
avoid video phone calls because Japanese people would never allow someone to
see the inside of their homes (Mindess, 2007). And inter-culturally: For the
hearing, the Deaf are seen as too direct, and their questions more probing
than what they are usually asked in usual spoken society (Mindess, 2007).
But it is the differences that make each Deaf culture so unique, and the
struggles of being accepted nationally are the challenges that unite the
whole of the world’s Deaf.